Chapter Thirteen
Towards morning a warm hand touched his face and he opened his eyes to rain falling his face. "Nadya?" he managed.
"Shhh, Harry, it's me. It's Hermione." Her face appeared above him in the dimness. "You mustn't speak. You're badly hurt and I need to go and find the others."
She started to move away and he pulled her back weakly. "No, Hermione," he gasped speaking with a ragged breath. He could feel the broken bones and knew he was badly injured. "Am I going to die?"
"No!" Her voice was steady and the bushy hair was now in his face as she gave him a quick cheek-to-cheek hug. "I won't let you."
"If thee moves, thee will be killed. We do not know if thee is enemy or friend." A voice as soft as the buzz of a bee drifted towards them.
Hermione jerked her head up, her body protecting Harry. "Who's there?" She searched the area carefully, the fog lifting slightly from the ground. Rain was falling in a steady torrent and then abruptly stopped and turned into a mist. It was cold and the sun which had heaved itself up over the horizon was now shrouded in mist and fog and the day was grim.
The elf stepped from the forest shade, his clothing blending in so well Hermione blinked twice to make sure she was seeing the figure before her. The creature had a crossbow, already strung, aimed at her heart and only the periwinkle blue of the eyes seemed bright enough to shine through the gloom. The rest of the creature was shaded in dim shadows.
"Verillieon?" Harry gasped. He raised his head a fraction of an inch and dropped it heavily to the ground, trying not to moan.
The elf took a step closer and Hermione leaned over Harry even farther. "You will have to kill me to get to him," she hissed.
"We come not to kill him, but to help. Thee is friend and must step aside so we may look at his wounds or he shall die." The elf dropped the crossbow to his side and waited for her to make up her mind.
Hermione stared at Harry's face. He now lay unconscious. "Yes." She sat back on her knees and let the elf approach. She studied the elf with a mixture of fear and appreciation as he knelt and placed an elegant elongated ear against Harry's chest and then tenderly ran a hand over each extremity and around his head. As he did so a faint glow emanated from the hand. The elf nodded as if satisfied.
The elf heard the sound before Hermione even realized there was a noise. The elf motioned to her to lean in and he whispered so softly it was like the wind blowing through the tops of the trees. "We will protect thee and Harry. He must not be found by this enemy or the other right now. Will thee let us do this?" The elf pulled back his hood and looked her in the eye. The elf was even more startlingly beautiful up close because she could see the smooth complexion as soft as that of a baby's skin. The eyes were penetrating and intense and she knew at once what it must be like to drown in someone's eyes. She had the sense to pull her eyes away and look down at Harry again.
She nodded in answer to the elf's question.
The elf waved a hand over them and Hermione felt a fuzzy warm feeling spreading over her as if she were wrapped in a feather comforter. She collapsed beside Harry as they had once been in his bed in his room, side-by-side, sound asleep.
Stealthy steps from a pair of boots wandered very close to them. A person sniffed at the air and got down on his hands and knees and studied the ground. The sleeping pair were just feet away, but the dark eyes did not see them. The man got up angrily, hands on hips, he barked into the gloom of the forest, "Protect him if you will elf. I will find him eventually." And then, he was gone.
Late on the following day, the sun burst out of the clouds and beat the ground with the first warming breeze of Spring. The two were laying on a bed of dried grasses, protected by the covering of tree boughs and twigs. Hermione opened her eyes, thinking how wonderful it felt to be able to stay in bed late. Instead of staring at the vaulted ceiling of her dorm room or the canopy of her four poster bed she stared into the blue sky and watched a hawk flying on the thermal drafts a thousand feet in the air.
She watched it in fascination before she realized a rock was pinching her and suddenly sat up and glanced at her side. Harry was laying there, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling with a rhythmical pattern. Oh my gosh, are you alive? she thought. She tried to remember the things she had read in the book she had tried to give Harry; the book, 'Field Medicine, Battle Injuries; Their Causes and Cures". Then she remembered her dream; the delicate beautiful creature who had come and touched Harry and had put them into a sleep.
"Mmmm." Harry groaned softly and his eyelashes fluttered and then opened to reveal the green eyes she was used to seeing.
"Harry?! Harry?" she murmured, touched his face and leaned over him. "Are you awake? Can you hear me?" She took his glasses off and brushed the hair from his forehead. "Please tell me you're all right?" Almost frantic with worry, she looked around. They were no longer near Hogwarts. Somehow through the night they had been transported to a hillside some distance from the castle. Hermione could see it in the distance as the sunlight hit the white towers. They looked like something out of a fairytale. How did we get here? she wondered for a moment.
"Thee must not make noise, or others of my kind will come." The beautiful voice came again. Only this time Hermione knew she was wide awake and not dreaming. Standing before her as if he had apparated to the site, was an elf in broad daylight.
"Who…who are you?" she asked breathlessly. She had never seen such a beautiful creature in her life, but knew what she was seeing; a Woodland elf. She had read about them many times but never thought she would ever have the chance to see one. What she had seen in the dim light of a rainy day was now before her eyes in broad daylight and the sight was beyond her ability to describe. The elf was small and thin. It's body so delicate it looked like fine china with a complexion as creamy. The hair was fine and straight growing down almost to the fingertips. It was a little difficult to tell the sex of the creature and she guessed this was a male.
"We are Verillieon," the elf said, his voice was smooth and so soft she could barely hear it. "Thee must not make noise. Others, like us will come. Our people do not like humans and it is in our nature to kill them. We are a friend to this human." He nodded at Harry and knelt beside him and touched him once again. The green eyes flickered open again. "Can thou hear us?" he asked, tenderly.
Harry glanced into the blue eyes and the narrow face of the elf and smiled. He closed his eyes again and fell fast asleep.
Hermione reached to shake him and the elf touched her lightly. "He must not be wakened. The sleep he is in heals his body. He will be well." Verillieon's voice drifted away on a gentle breeze. Hermione knew if she turned her head and didn't watch his mouth move that she would not have heard the words. It had the quality of a lute, pure and high-pitched. He spoke again, "It was lucky we returned last night when we did. We saw him fall and the evil one approach him."
"What am I to do?" Hermione asked, seemingly unconcerned about the information the elf had just given. She covered Harry with her cloak and looked up at the elf again. "Should I leave him and go back to the castle and fetch help? Will he be found if I do?"
"His kind will come for him," the elf said. "I have sent a message on the wing to the Roma." The elf looked up and watched the hawk as it continued to drift effortlessly in the sky. "The one above is her mate and will let them know where you are." Hermione followed his glance to the hawk.
"Harry, will be all right?" she asked, looking worried.
The elf nodded and bowed slightly. "We will keep watch over thee until the others come." He stepped back one step and before her eyes blended into the shadows and disappeared.
Hermione blinked several times, studied the area and could not see the elf. Finally resigned to the idea she could not see him if he chose not to be seen and feeling safe she laid down and lent her body warmth to Harry. He continued to sleep, his breathing deep and relaxed.
They slept through the day. Towards evening Hermione covered him and went a few feet into the forest, returned and sat looking at Hogwarts. She had one protective hand covering Harry and periodically would glance at him with worry. She could only trust that the elf was telling her the truth and that he was healing. To her, he appeared to be in a deep sleep and comfortable.
"You'd just better not die, Harry," she said softly. "How can I ever ask you about that elf if you die?" She shook her head and studied the forest and the valley that was visible to her. She was thinking of Nadya and the baby she was carrying and of all the things she had been through in the past two weeks. "I didn't go through all of that for your wife to lose you, you big git!" She growled to herself and smoothed the cloak over him again.
She thought about the night's events. Snape had brought them back to Hogwarts by wagon since Nadya could not or would not apparate. They had walked into the Ball, she had gone looking for Harry and then he had grabbed her. She was frantic to find him and talk to him. They danced, but Hermione knew they were now in a dangerous situation and she couldn't speak to him of what was on her mind. Harry then took off with Neville and then the next thing Neville was running into the ballroom, screaming for Snape.
Snape, Ron, Neville, Nadya and Dumbledore had quickly followed him up through the castle to the ramparts, where very few students had ever been. All the while he was gibbering about Harry. Snape knew what he was doing. He was the first to see the faint light of the wand below in the forest when he looked out and over the castle.
She had seen Harry, clinging like a fly on a wall to the tower, and saw the figure below, although they could not make out who it was. It had been a shock when the man they all thought of as friend and teacher had used the spell to pull Harry off the wall. Snape had been just as quick and had slowed down Harry's speed. Still, she thought, it hadn't been enough. He'd almost died. It was then, Neville told her Lupin was the imposter.
Nadya screamed something in Romani, and Snape grabbed her as she swooned and began to fall to the ground. He picked her up so carefully and tenderly Hermione was amazed at the change in him and she watched as he carried her down through the castle. He'd taken her to his rooms and instructed them to begin a search. She was out the door before Snape had spoken his first words, closely followed by Ron and a dozen other students. Still, she had been separated from them and had come across him laying on the ground looking like a pile of broken bones in a sack. She almost wept in horror at what she might find when she knelt beside him.
Hermione sat now, shivering in the coolness of the twilight. "I've got him now!" she said. "And you all better just stay away!" She drew in the dirt with a twig and fought back tears. This time was too close, she thought.
Hermione, if you cry I am going to be so mad, she said to herself. Ron will laugh at you. Just like a muggle! that's what he'll say. He said it once and you'd better listen- are you a witch or not! Get a grip and mind what you're doing! She chastised herself for suddenly getting weak-kneed in the middle of a crisis and once again bit her lip and sat beside him protectively.
A faint rustling brought her swinging around, wand in hand. Sitting in a bed of grass was a leaf with food placed on it. A small fire was burning and it was no bigger than the palm of her hand. She held her breath and peered into the gathering darkness hoping to see the elf again. It was minutes before she scooted over and warmed her frozen fingers on the twig fire. There was enough food for one. Looking at the sleeping Harry she ate with her fingers, tore the bread in half and rolled the extra half in the leaf to save.
An owl hooted in the deepening darkness, the rain turned into a light snow and it grew colder. Hermione kept the little fire burning by adding one twig at a time. She used her wand to make a circle around them that remained dry. Every hour she would check Harry, make sure he was well, covered and then walk to circulate her blood and warm herself. She was dressed in men's clothing and was grateful the trousers and boots kept her legs warm even though she could use her wand periodically to do the same job. She only hoped the Rom would come or Snape would find a way to find her. She'd given up her cloak to Harry and was rubbing her arms when she saw the movement.
"Step into the light," she whispered.
The elf materialized in front of her. Somehow his clothes picked up the color of his surroundings and it was impossible to see him if he didn't move. He walked over and knelt beside the sleeping man and touched him, nodded and stood.
"Is he all right?" she asked with a tremulous voice.
The elf nodded. "The others are coming. Thee will be greeted here before the light of morn."
"Thank you for saving him," was all she could manage.
"Is thee his female?" the elf asked.
Hermione understood. "No. He has a wife...a...mate. She is Rom." Hermione knelt beside Harry and checked his cover and added, "No. I am his friend."
"A friend that would die for him?" the elf asked and nodded. "Thee are indeed a friend. What name is thou called?"
"I am called Hermione," she said.
The elf seemed to try the name on before speaking it. "Hermione. Thee will be remembered. Thee have but to speak our name in the wood and we will come. No other creatures will bother thee." With that, he stepped into the shadow and disappeared.
"Okay," she said weakly. She sat by the small fire and added more to it wondering if it was wise to even have it. Thinking the elf probably knew more than she did, she kept it burning. Staring into the burning brightness, her mind went to the morning she had joined Harry on the train as escort to his aunt. She had lied to him the night before. She had evaded his questions.
Hermione knew he was being deliberately pulled away from Hogwarts. Having him apparate to London was the best way to make sure he was safe even though she felt bad about deceiving him.
Sometimes Harry you just don't know what's good for you, she thought, glancing at his sleeping form. Why is it you can't understand how important you are to people? How is it you can't understand that people also want you dead and how easy it is sometimes for them to kill you!
It always amazed her how he remained so innocent and so caring of everyone. No, Verillieon, he's a better friend. He'd die for us all, she mused. She waved her wand over his sleeping form and once again a warming blanket of air settled down over him.
She sat huddled, her arms around her knees. You're always getting betrayed. It's not fair is it, Harry? She thought of Percy Weasley. She knew he was dead. As she and Ron had run from the castle into the dark night, scrambling and struggling across the rocky ground towards the precipice, Ron had told her about Percy. In short clipped words, he told her he was dead by Voldemort's hands.
She knew how he was going to end up. On the train Percy had come to the compartment door and she could remember her surprise.
"Percy!" she exclaimed, sliding the door open and stepping out. Harry's aunt watched them with glaring eyes. Hermione excused herself and joined him in the corridor.
"What is it?" she asked, pulling him away from the compartment, down to the end of the car.
"It's Ron, Hermione," he said, morosely. "He's been kidnapped." Percy was looking pale and unhealthy.
"Kidnapped!" she gasped. "When…where?"
"We've got to get off at the next stop. You have to go back. Harry sent me to tell you," he turned and was down the hall. "I was just up at the school. I got there first. The rest of the family is meeting there with Dumbledore."
She followed him as he walked and talked, her own mind was racing.
"But why kidnap Ron, Percy? I don't understand." Hermione felt the train slowing and bent to peer out the windows. They were coming to a small town. Since they weren't on the Hogwarts train which was usually non-stop from London to Hogsmeade, the train was stopping at small villages along the way. She looked up and Percy had gone through the door. "Percy!" She moved on to catch up. We must be getting off here to apparate, she thought.
She stepped into the compartment between the cars to exit through the end door and felt him grab her from behind. His wand was pointed at the back of her neck. "Don't move Hermione. I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to," he whispered into her ear. "He has a little job and he doesn't want the real you in the way."
"He, who? Voldemort!" she retorted.
"Speak again and I will have to gag you!" he said and poked her. "The Dark Lord wants a little word with you."
"Don't hurt her," the female voice was behind them. It was Harry's aunt. "She's the only way we're going to find the Gypsy girl," Petunia said, coming around in front of Hermione. "You said we have to use this one to get information on the girl's location."
Percy was holding her tightly around the neck. She could feel the corded muscle in his forearm and it felt like iron. She was having a hard time breathing.
What! Hermione thought. You're in it with him! You're Harry's aunt! she screamed in her mind, horror struck by Petunia's betrayal.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Percy growled. "There's a secret keeper hiding Nadya. I know where she was when I left her but she may not still be there. Once she is protected with the Fidelius Charm I can't find her again. Besides the Dark Lord wants this one. He'll send her back into Hogwarts and kill your nephew and it'll look like she'll be blamed even if they believed she was Imperioused!" Percy snarled and Hermione's hand crept towards her own wand. She could hear a note of insanity in Percy's voice.
"Stop using all those words I don't understand. It's been too many years since I was here. Besides I want to use her before he gets her," Petunia said.
Percy shuddered involuntarily and Hermione let go of his arm that was slowly choking the breath from her and reached into her robes. "You don't want to mess with Him," Percy was saying, "Let's just get the money. I'll turn Hermione over to the Dark Lord and then it'll be done. That's all he wants. And then maybe…" Percy said with a strangled sob, "maybe he will forget about us."
Petunia was smirking, her voice hard and cold, "He will want the other girl, too, especially if she's pregnant. He'll want the child. Don't forget Weasley, it was you who told them Potter had a wife and she was pregnant. He wants Potter blood; with my nephew or his child or mine! And it's not going to be mine!""
They don't know I'm the secret keeper for Nadya, Hermione thought.
"You don't understand!" he screamed. "You're nothing but a squib! You don't know what he could do to us!" Percy's arm was tightening with his agitation and once again Hermione was seeing darkness overcoming her as he crushed her windpipe.
"He won't do anything if we have the Gypsy girl," Petunia said. "You said he wants something in the castle." Petunia's eyes glittered as she spoke. "He wants more than my nephew dead. We can bargain with the girl and her child and he won't kill us, but we have to find her first."
Hermione's hand crept slowly down inside her robe searching for her wand. She was feeling like she was about to lose consciousness at any second.
She touched the wood and gasped with her last breath, "ACCIO WAND." It leapt into her hand like a live animal. The train jerked to a halt and Hermione stabbed backward into Percy's face hitting his eye the first time. He let go in a spasm of pain, screaming while Petunia threw up her arm to ward off an attack.
Hermione didn't even look back, she apparated immediately to the little village sitting on the edge of the great forest. She apparated to Godric's Hollow.
Without realizing it, Hermione was less than a half mile from Voldemort who was desperately waiting for news. He needed the blood of Harry Potter or his relative and then he could do the reverse spell to counteract the potion Snape had fed him. The poison worked like a blood spell, it caused him excruciating pain to try and use magic on others and he relied on his Death Eaters to do the work for him. Without the blood of Potter or his relative he could not reverse the poison. Voldemort had agreed to let the Weasley boy live if he could bring the Potter boy's aunt to him. In turn, he would use her. He had no use for Weasley and would get rid of him immediately. What he wanted most was to reverse the spell so he would not have to rely on anyone.
He seethed in fury at those very Death Eaters who waited at his side. Lucius Malfoy, a shadow of his former self, knelt continually in subjection. His pale blond hair gleamed in a shaft of light piercing the gloom of the room. "Why has he not come to me Lucius when he knows how desperately I wish to hear news?" The man sat on a throne-like chair in the darkness of the chamber. "I want the aunt along with the mudblood girl. You have things in place to get her if she fails to come with him?"
"Yes, Master," Lucius intoned. "It has been arranged."
"Do not kill anyone until we know the location of Potter's wife," Voldemort stated again. "I want Potter. I want them all, but I want him most of all!"
"As soon as Percy Weasley brings us the mudblood girl," Lucius said nodding. "I will use the Imperious charm. He will come out of Hogwarts and be taken then."
"I have waited a year putting this plan into action Lucius." Voldemort said, his fiery eyes burning into the top of the kneeling man's head. "Potter's always interfering. I want him brought to me immediately, as soon as the Granger girl brings him out so the prophecy can be fulfilled. The sooner he is dead, the better. In any event, I will have his aunt and her blood and regain my full powers. Remember, Harry Potter is mine and mine alone!"
Voldemort sprang from his chair. "Actually… I feel so much better now that he has killed Bellatrix. Perhaps we should let him kill his friend, the Granger girl and then…" Voldemort's laugh was wicked, "who knows. Maybe I'll let him take you next Lucius. I'm sure he would like that."
Voldemort walked the room waving his arms in a theatrical flourish. "I'm so happy we discovered how his killing empowers me. I wonder what would happen if he killed his own wife? Hmmmm… well, we want the child first of course. We will keep her alive long enough for her to bear it."
"Yes, Master," Lucius stuttered. "If that is your desire."
"Do not let this go wrong Lucius," Voldemort said. "Do not let Potter escape again or I will not let YOU have an easy death." The twisted, sharp fingernail of Voldemort's outstretched finger curled sensuously around Malfoy's brow, the black hole of the missing eye and his one good eye stared back. "No, my dear friend. You will not die an easy death."
Malfoy shook imperceptibly and stared into space behind his master's head. The once smooth skin was now crisscrossed with scar tissue. His thin blue lips quivered as he spoke, "I have everything in place My Lord."
"Good!" The man swept away his black cape hitting Malfoy in the face. "When all this is done and I am free of this curse and free of Potter then I shall enter Hogwarts myself. There will be no interference from Dumbledore."
"Yes, master," Lucius repeated.
"We were successful in planting the imposter? You have given him instructions."
"Yes, Master."
"Very well." The dark wizard strolled around the room and turned to Lucius. "Leave me. You are ugly and I do not wish to look at your face any longer."
Malfoy rose to his feet and backed out of the room, his one good eye directed at the floor.
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